Community groups meet on recent burglaries

Chas Langley, a 24-year-old man from Marin City, and Kevin
Simmons, a 31-year-old Denver man, were arrested in Oakland on Oct. 27 in
connection with the burglaries.

"We can link them up to 10 burglaries right now," Oakland police
spokesman Jeff Thomason said. "We're still doing the investigation."

Thomason said there were about 30 burglaries in the area between
late August and October in which the suspects kicked in the doors of the
victims' homes during daylight hours.

Oakland police are also working with other police departments in
the Bay Area, including Sausalito and Berkeley, which were investigating
similar crimes in their cities.

Tonight's meeting will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Montera
Middle School Auditorium at 5555 Ascot Drive, and will be hosted by the
Montclair Safety and Improvement Council and the Piedmont Pines Neighborhood
Association.

Several Oakland police officers involved in the investigation will
be in attendance to discuss the case and receive special recognition.

Thomason said the burglaries were investigated by the Police
Department's problem-solving officers, who discovered similarities in the
crimes.

The suspects would strike between two and four homes a day only on
certain days of the week, Thomason said. Officers began to compare reports
and re-contact witnesses, and were able to put together a suspect vehicle
description with a partial license plate.

Officers were conducting surveillance Oct. 27 when they
encountered the suspect vehicle in the 5900 block of Balboa Drive.

Thomason said police chased the vehicle, which was reportedly
stolen, and tried to box it in. The suspects allegedly rammed an officer's
vehicle, lost control and went down a hillside.

Langley and Simmons then attempted to run from officers but were
detained and arrested on multiple charges of burglary, possession of firearms
and a stolen vehicle and evading police, among others charges.

The Police Department began to fully staff the problem-solving
beat, which consists of officers who work with community members to solve
problems, in early September through Measure Y funding, Thomason said.